The Adventures of Totoro

I was feeling worse today. My head ached, my throat was bad and so was my nose. My ear was also blocked because of all the sniffing. Now I know why there are ENT specialists - because our ears, nose and throat are very closely linked to each other. Typing of ENT, my ear check with that guy is in about 2 weeks. Nowadays, my metronome (electronic) is on full blast and I still find it hard to hear the beat. Last time, adjusting it at that volume managed to at least make my ears throb slightly.

Today, a guy came to teach us about the Kompang (a Malay instrument). And yes, it's kompang, not kampong. It was a very relaxing lesson because we spent most of the time playing the kompangs. My fingers started hurting after a while, probably because they weren't used to undergoing such therapeutic treatment.

After the session ended, Ms P went out for a while to guide him out of the school. That's when the  adventures of Totoro began. Ruri suddenly went to the piano and played the Totoro. Jie Ying quickly joined the duet and I was very pleased at the spontaneous outburst of Totoro. Sarah started pirouetting about the music room and was very engrossed in her self-taught ballet. Ai started dancing too. It was quite hilarious watching them flailing their arms in the air and rotating about their pivots. To my horror, Ai started trying to pull me to my feet and got me to dance along. She was full of determination as she manoeuvred my reluctant arms. It probably looked like she was trying to give an old folk some physiotherapy.

Ms P suddenly opened the door and all the action stopped. Then we did perception exercises before continuing on Totoro in the canteen. This time, Jy agreed to play it upon my request (usually I have to beg her and ruri every Thurs). However, it was on a condition that I allowed her to give me a lift home, so that I wouldn't have to risk dying while on the bus. I do almost anything for Totoro, live performance. So it was a deal, and I got my weekly doze of Totoro. Thanks again, Jy.

Tomorrow, it's Friday! Going to rearrange the Haydn Symphony for the whole music class to play with ruri and jy during Pure Slacking. It's called studying for the O level set piece the practical way. Then we'll play it for Ms P and hopefully not end up giving her a nightmare. While talking with Ruri the other day, we found it a good idea for the sec 4s (in music related CCAs) to play together. Like, arrange something. It's good because at Sec 4, you have the more experienced players and a wide range of instruments. What's more, there's the garden, which is the perfect spot for an outdoor concert. But of course, now's a little too late for such drastic proposals.

Music connects people - an important lesson I learnt in SMSS.